I'm shocked that a girl saying lesbophobic and homophobic things denies being homophobic.

This is r/books, so I'm begging you to READ A BOOK.

Just because you're comfortable being homophobic doesn't make it correct.

Yes, it is homophobic.

The girl flat is blaming gay people for "sexualizing" girls holding hands. Did you even read it?

Damn. That is incredibly condemning. Thank you btw. And now I feel strange. I used to enjoy Dan Brown books :(

Love Ellroy! The sequels are also amazing. And the LA Quartet is rightfully considered a classic. LA Confidential is waaay more epic than the movie (which I nonetheless love).

Such a simple answer and maybe the best

I devoured it. Finished in one day. For years I refused to read TJR because I thought she was overhyped and overrated but I read one short story of hers I got on KU then Evelyn Hugo and I haven’t looked back since. She is easily becoming one of my favorite authors

I really liked it but I listened to it on audiobook. Different actors read each character. It was very entertaining. Maybe I would not have Loved it if I read it.

Which is why I didn’t use the term straight or gay in either of my comments. The reason I responded to the initial comment was because I think that people often say this because it deletes male/male compassion from the equation, which I think straight American men are really more uncomfortable with than the sexual aspect. I’m not saying that two Spartans bustin’ a nut together makes them gay, like you said the term doesn’t apply to those people. But it does paint a different picture of how homosexual activity fit into there life and culture. The main thing I’m trying to get at is there consistent and significant incongruities in every cultures values around sex and how people actually behave, and a general impulse to “prudify” the past. I’m not saying this applies to you, you clearly know your history, but I feel the need to correct the record when people imply that Greek and Roman homosexual activities were compassion-less expressions of power. It’s not accurate, and people sometimes use it to claim that modern homosexual activity is somehow new.

A really short read is War of The Worlds. Almost 200 pages and very good nonetheless. If you want a read you can get done fast, I highly recommend it. I've been doing that lately with Jack London stories and I've gotten myself back on my feet thankfully.

I liked it. Read it like 15 years ago though, and I was a pretentious 15 year old.

I find that completely believable. The paperless office is a myth.

I thought your English and post was very articulate. I understood you completely.

A Clockwork Orange blows my mind. I haven't read it physically but I've listened to the audiobook. I whole book told in this first person POV and writen in the slang language of the main character and rapist, murderering criminal. In a way, it protects you from the horrors of what the gangs do. But once you translate it, you really feel the weight of the scene. And bad for the victims.

I also have a similar section in my book that kind of mimics the speech pattern of 'Nadsat'--the Cockney like underground slang the young of the country speak.

Depends on your local legal system. Doesn't work like that in Scotland.

Are they creators?

That one of the things that makes ASOIAF so interesting.

The pic of us all wearing Scotch Bonnets was hilarious.

Be willing to go back and re-read a passage or section again. Patience and focus are key!

Also, you will often see a word or phrase you don't know. If you can figure it out from context, good. If you can ignore it and still understand the sentence/meaning, good. But, if it occurs many times, you should stop and look it up in a dictionary or translator etc.

I read it in HS and it was one of maybe 4 books I liked that I was forced to read then.

In the beginning of Life, the Universe, and Everything there’s a really good bit about Arthur deciding today was the day he’d go mad and finding himself chasing a Chesterfield sofa across a prehistoric field shortly after. I don't know your dad but there’s a lot of room for analogies and loving silliness with this passage. I’m sorry you are having to do this.

Cloud Atlas was amazing for me. He writes in multiple voices, and each one is way different than all the rest. Just phenomenal.

If it makes a difference, I tried to watch the movie afterward and didn’t last ten minutes before I stopped.

Agreed short stories

Like the “Do not use while sleeping” tag on the hair dryer I had as a teen.

I felt really mad after wasting my time reading** Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China which discussed, in detail, the beginning of the beginning and how the beginning began.

**required reading for ancient Chinese history 🙄

I read this in college 30+ years ago and loved it. It was my English class assignment. Afterwards, we had to “rebuild society” with just our (dozen or so) classmates. The project and book study lasted several months, possibly a whole semester. We were featured in the local (tiny) newspaper for our project.